difference between proofreading and copy editing article

It occurs after your book has been formatted for print or digital distribution—after you get it back from your formatter or book designer. It reveals that they are closely related, but copy editing requires a higher level of technical and inter-personal skills than proofreading.

I even think a partial copyedit is very helpful if you want to begin to learn how to sharpen your copyediting skills. Practical advice to help build better books, by Corina Koch Macleod and Carla Douglas on May 13, 2015 24 Comments, By Corina Koch MacLeod and Carla Douglas. The proofreader works with a facsimile of a finished product, or a proof (hence the term proofreading). For example: one of my favourite proofreading tools can check that you have closed up all quotation marks and brackets. She was always level-headed and calm.

My brain is full now. . When I’d request changes late in the game, she’d remind me to keep to the same number of keystrokes whenever possible. I’ll be bookmarking this link to give to potential clients who don’t quite understand what I do (thinking I am a big-picture developmental editor too). Web.

If your book has been copyedited, then of course proofreading will be next. Copyediting or Proofreading? The beach was beautiful, so Mary tied up her long blonde hair before she ventured into the water.

Especially if this is your first book, by the time you’ve been through writing, revising and rewriting, you may feel confident that your book is ready for proofreading. Proofreaders typically work with a .pdf version of a print book or the .mobi or .epub version of an electronic book and keep a master file list of all changes to be made. Because formatting or designing a book involves placing and finessing text so that things look and operate correctly, you don’t want to be rewriting or shuffling sentences at the proofreading stage. Karen Saunders, BFA Rough crowd! This aspect can be challenging to locate. If you use the Fourth of July in one part of your text, but July the Fourth in another and the 4th July or July 4 elsewhere, it is inconsistent. That’s an astute observation, Shelton. Review why copy editing comes first when polishing new copy. Finding internal inconsistencies is very demanding, but it is necessary to locate these kinds of errors to ensure continuity. There are many editing and proofreading tools available to self-pubs and editors alike. Find them. When working on a paper for a long time, you, as a writer, may miss out some important information or make errors without even thinking about it. Lately, most authors who contact us are requesting a quote for proofreading. Your email address will not be published. I can’t help but wonder if some authors are using Grammarly in place of a copyeditor. I learn many things…including the correct usage of words as well as punctuation. Even if your book has already been laid out for print by a designer, proofreaders would like to receive the Word file as well. A copy editor may also do a rewrite, if necessary, to fix any problems with transitions, wordiness, jargon, and to ensure the style of the piece fits with the publication. Style guides are published in all English speaking countries and are extremely useful. In this post, we will clarify the difference between proofreading and copyediting, providing the specifics of working with the text. You also need to check for formatting errors. It’s exciting to know how to improve my writing skills and catch the errors before sending to the copy editor. Knowing the difference can help authors identify the kind of editing they need and understand just […], […] the Indie writers, Corina Koch MacLeod and Carla Douglas discuss why self-published authors need both copyediting and proofreading, and J. To answer this in simple terms: Thanks for your comments, Linda, and for a view into the proofreader’s (and interior designer’s) world. When the material is nearly a finished product, meaning it has been edited, laid out, and designed, the proofreader searches for typographical errors. I can recall it so vividly. Finally, I’m fascinated by how proofreading and editing tools may help writers to become better self-editors. It’s the editor who is responsible for the overall quality of the text since the text has been already revised and corrected before being typeset. This work is known as revision. But you should be able to do a lot of the work yourself if you are meticulous and pay attention to detail. Main Difference – Proofreading vs Editing. Great questions! It is when you need to look at your creative content or story, your writing style, and your language use at a sentence and paragraph level. No matter what type of writing you are working on, you will sooner or later face the need for proofreading and editing your piece since these are important stages of the entire writing process. This is the main difference between proofreading and editing. Most automated tools only work with Microsoft Word—the editor’s tool of choice. Editing is the process of improving the formatting, style, and accuracy of a text. That’s a great distinction between proofreading and self-editing. For now, you can learn more about proofreading and editing tools at http://www.techtoolsforwriters.com/, […] Proofreading is the final stage in the process. What is Editing? A break aims to make sure you can think clearly and independently from your editing work. The editor I use doesn’t. Who’s more important? Filed Under: Editorial Tagged With: Carla Douglas, copyediting, Corina Koch MacLeod, proofreading.
Mary sat silently in front of the mirror, slowly brushing her long dark hair.

I’m always happy to work with him because his stuff is in good shape. It’s true: things do get missed at the copyediting stage. You have captured correctly how things work in the publishing industry.

Editing and proofreading services produce different outcomes for writers, and therefore potential consumers must be aware of what they do. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21 at 02:56:15 UTC. (But I do drink vodka, rum, gin or anything else I can get my hands on.). Proofreading duplicates some of the work of copy-editing looking at spelling, grammar, punctuation, and particularly the consistency and formatting of the layout. The idea is to catch last minute errors, errors either the author or the many layers of editors missed, to catch the widows and orphans and rivers, that kind of thing. I usually will work only once with an author whose work hasn’t been properly copyedited and who doesn’t feel it’s his job to know grammar and punctuation. Any type of writing goes through the processes of proofreading and editing. Improve your grammar, vocabulary, and writing -- and it's FREE!

 ×  Any corrections that the proofreader suggests will need to be addressed by your formatter or designer. Editing of the Copy. Question everything.” I flag more items than I need to, if only to let the author make the final decision on a specific fact or wording issue. . An editor is usually a person who has specialized knowledge in a particular field. STANDS4 LLC, 2020. The truth? Third wish: Proofreading. Sadly, I must say that there is often a lot of overlap of my skill set into the copyediting circle. Proofreading is typically done after the book is formatted. Just for fun, check out this tongue-in-cheek post about how teachers have influenced our writing: http://terriblewriting.com/9-writing-tips-from-your-elementary-school-teacher-or-why-your-writing-sucks/. Info@KarenSaundersAssoc.com. Behind the (Crime) Scene at the Editor’s Screen. The process of editing includes spelling and grammar corrections, checking the logical flow of ideas and verifying facts and figures. Many self-publishing authors, though, are foregoing copyediting, assuming that the finer details of style and consistency have been seen to by their beta readers. The copy being what is written by the author. Sometimes putting a dollar value on each additional task makes the concepts clearer. Once a proof is approved, the genie is out of the bag and into the world.

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